Carry it with You, Stylishly (Reisenthel Carrybag)

I am in love. My parents got me this carrybag from Reisenthel as a birthday gift. Okay, I picked it out and emailed them the link. But still, they bought and wrapped it!

By now, I hope you have caught on to the trend of using your cloth or sustainable grocery bags when you shop. Target gives you five cents off for every bag you take in, my grocery store takes off three. Legislation in California has been aimed at banning plastic bags. And did you know that in Europe, they charge you if you need a bag? Learn more.

Longaberger Cake Basket

I have faithfully kept a half dozen reusable bags in my car. I can safely say that I have less than 20 plastic bags in my house, and I reuse them as trash can liners. But even nice reusable bags can be unwieldy and floppy.

When I take food to family functions, my Longaberger cake basket is great, except that it's square. I didn't have anything that carries a 9x13 pan...until now! (And in case you are drooling, yes that beautiful pan is an All-Clad pan, lovingly gifted by my grandmother who is wild about good kitchen products.)

Reisenthel carrybag with 9x13 pan inside.

Part of the reason I am so excited to use the carrybag is that I have been taking a lot of meals to new moms. My son is often on my hip, leaving me with one free hand to carry everything else. I am happy to have something deeper to hold pans and dishes but also be structured enough to hold its shape.

There are great little feet on the bottom so you don't have to worry about wearing out the material. You can also collapse it for storage, but that requires removing four support pieces from fabric pockets. Easy, but not a 30-second project either.

I plan to keep the carrybag handy in the car when traveling on a day trip or visit to Grandma's house. We inevitably end up with a dozen small things to bring into the house (water bottles, sippy cup, toys, extra clothing, etc.) and I look forward to stuffing everything in the carrybag and saving some trips. It will probably also help with the daily multitude of trips upstairs and downstairs with stuff.

Available in dozens of colors, through retailers listed on the company site and through Amazon.